Copenhagen, Denmark received heavy rainfall during a violent thunderstorm on the evening of Saturday, 2 July, which caused flooding throughout the city, including the north-eastern area  where the WHO/Europe office is located.

The WHO/Europe headquarters in Copenhagen is closed, as of Monday, 4 July 2011, until further notice after parts of the office were flooded. All staff members in Copenhagen have been asked to work from home.

As a result of the flooding, the power supply and telephone and e-mail services are disrupted, but the emergency team is working around the clock to ensure that operations will resume as soon as possible. Experts are assessing the safety of the buildings. Staff are requested to check the  intranet regularly for further updates.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) Contact Point for Europe is operational and continues to be accessible by all Member States at all times. All national IHR focal points have been informed about the situation and the alternative arrangements that were put in place on Saturday.  

Exceptional measures have been taken to ensure that, starting on Tuesday morning, e-mail services for all staff should be functioning again.